Literature (BA)

Program Requirements

The Literature Major

The Literature major consists of 10 courses given by, or approved by, the program.

LTWR 199 is an introduction to the Literature and Writing majors and is open to all students thinking about majoring in Literature or Writing. All potential majors are urged to take it no later than the beginning of their sophomore year. While LTWR 199 and LTWR 200 constitute a sequence in the Literature major and must be taken in that order, this sequence is not necessarily consecutive: LTWR 199 is a class appropriate for incoming first-year students, while LTWR 200 is an advanced course in critical theory, open only to students with sophomore standing and above who have taken LTWR 199. Students will thus typically take LTWR 199 at the beginning of their first year, and they will take LTWR 200 no earlier than the beginning of their second year.

LTWR 199 is the prerequisite for all 300-level classes offered by the program. Some 300-level classes may have additional prerequisites.

The Literature & Writing Program does not permit double-counting. Although some of our courses fill multiple requirements, each course can only be used to fill one requirement for a particular student’s major or minor.

Core Courses (8 credits)

Two core courses are required for the Literature major. All students will complete LTWR 199. In most cases, Literature majors will fill the core requirements by taking LTWR 200. Literature majors who minor in Cinema and Media Studies can substitute LTWR 221 for LTWR 200.

LTWR 199	Approaches to Literature	4
LTWR 200	How To Be a Critic	4
	OR
LTWR 221/COMM 221	The Critical Lens: Introduction to Film and Media Theory	4

Context Courses: Literature and Social Change (8 credits)

Complete two context courses that emphasize Literature and Social Change.

LTWR 124	Narrative & Medicine	4
LTWR 170/AST 170	Introduction to 21st Century Global Literature	4
LTWR 176/AST 176	African American Fiction	4
LTWR 178	Intersectional Identities in US Literature	4
LTWR 179	Human Rights and Global Literature	4
LTWR 184	Performance and Politics on the Global Stage	4
LTWR 193/WGSS 193	Gender and Power in Literature	4
LTWR 212/WGSS 212	Queer Literature and Film	4
LTWR 213	Poetry of Displacement	4
LTWR 223	New Literary Topics	4
LTWR 229	Resist! Political Resistance in Literature and Film	4
LTWR 230	Postcolonial Film	4
LTWR 235	Identity and Race in 19th Century American Literature	4
LTWR 241/AST 241/WGSS 241	Contemporary Black Women Writers	4
LTWR 266	Piratical Stories	4
LTWR 308	The Global Novel	4
LTWR 316	Native American Literature	4
LTWR 323	Special Topics in Literature	4
LTWR 327	Psychoanalysis, Race and Sexuality	4
LTWR 354	Studies in Film: Melodrama	4
LTWR 398/WGSS 398	Feminist Media Studies	4

Context Courses: Literary Tradition (8 credits)

Complete two context courses that emphasize Literary Tradition.

LTWR 110	Invitation to Literature	4
LTWR 111	Greek Mythology and Religion	4
LTWR 112	Poetry and Passion in the Bible	4
LTWR 121	Love, Death, and Fantasy in Shakespeare's Plays	4
LTWR 126	Magic, Fantasy, and the Origins of Literature	4
LTWR 138	Invitation to Poetry	4
LTWR 161	The Making of America: U.S. Literature before 1900	4
LTWR 214	The Invented Self in 20th and 21st Century U.S. Fiction	4
LTWR 223	New Literary Topics	4
LTWR 254	The Rise of the Novel: English Literature Before 1900	4
LTWR 265	Modern(ist) Women	4
LTWR 304	The Romantic Rebel	4
LTWR 320	American Women Poets	4
LTWR 323	Special Topics in Literature	4

Four Elective Courses (16 credits)

Majors will also complete four elective courses selected from program offerings.

Two Upper-level Courses Required

Of the ten courses required for the Literature major, two must be upper-level courses:

• One 200-level course.
• One 300-level course.